The invention relates to a system for transporting piece goods, said system including at least one output track by which piece goods are conveyed from an entrance to an exit, said entrance being at a higher level than said exit.
More particularly, the invention related to a system for transporting parcels in a parcel distribution center where the weight of the parcels and the adhesive properties of their surfaces may vary in a wide range and where the parcels are not only transported, but also slowed down and stacked.
Conventional systems of the above-mentioned kind include output tracks which are mostly composed of metal or wooden chutes comprising sections having different slopes. These output tracks are disadvantageous in that some parcels slide down slide too fast and others too slow or not at all, the sliding speed of a parcel depending upon its weight and the adhesive properties of its outer surface. The undesirable consequences of quite different sliding speeds of the parcels are parcel collisions and the resulting damages, on one hand, and a poor utilization of the transport capacity of the chutes, on the other hand. In the latter case, some sections of the chutes are almost empty, and others are congested. Parcels which do not slide remain in the upper section of an output track and must be retrieved by the personnel.